Monday, December 21, 2009

product test drive: airbrush tan

for my wedding, i had my first spray tan experience.

i had expected what i had seen from my big-city experience: a booth that you go into, raise your arms, and get hosed. what i actually encountered in a much smaller town was very different.

after calling around to the various businesses in the area, i found that there were no spray tanning booths. what i finally found after LOTS of digging was a lady who did a type of airbrush tan, with a gun she sweeps across your body while you stand there wearing...not much.

that was a concern i hadn't counted on, because in a booth nobody gets to see your pale goodies as you get sprayed. you have privacy. however, if you are standing in front of a girl with an airbrush, she is all up in every bit of your untanned junk.

this gal was nice, don't get me wrong. but she took me down into her unfinished basement and had me strip down to my unmentionables, and then gave me the chills while she sprayed and powdered me. it was a little awkward for a pregnant plus-size chica.

the end result was better than i expected, color-wise. i wasn't orange, since i asked her to use her lightest formula on my already-pasty skin. i felt like my chest got a bit tanner than the rest of me, and it didn't cover my swimsuit straps as well as i wanted, but it did help them blend. i felt like i looked pretty natural, and i think my pictures turned out well. the first day i kept smelling the formula, but that wore off.

what i didn't like was how it came off-in chunks! then again, i was on my hawaiian honeymoon, sweating and frolicking in the ocean for a week. but the color would start to pill off of me, like an old sweater, and it would make a big streak when i wiped it. this happened mostly on my legs and chest. it made me feel dirty, and i started to wonder how much people could tell that my tan was fake.

i don't regret having it done, but i probably wouldn't do it again.